News & Announcements

Who: Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) has announced the title for its annual Banned Book Writing Contest and Crazy Free Books giveaway.

What: The 2019 Banned Books Writing Contest is inspired by Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club, which has been challenged in the U.S. due to some readers’ perception of the “violent and explicit” nature of some of the book’s content.

The Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) will host New York Times bestselling author Susan Orlean (The Library Book, The Orchid Thief) on September 28 to give the 2019 Fred K. Darragh Jr. Lecture, part of the CALS Speaker Series. Orlean will take the stage at 6:30 p.m. at CALS Ron Robinson Theater,

The Central Arkansas Library System’s (CALS) Butler Center for Arkansas Studies is hosting its annual genealogy workshop on Saturday, July 20, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater in Library Square, 100 Rock Street. Theater doors will open at 9:00 a.m. The program is free and open to the public; there is no registration for this event.

The Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) is announcing a new name for the Arkansas Literary Festival: Six Bridges Book Festival. Named for the six bridges that connect the downtowns in Little Rock and North Little Rock, the festival will have a new focus, bridging communities and bringing people together. The library will actively solicit input from a variety of demographic groups with the goal of offering a more widely appealing festival.

The Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) is a recipient of a $14,900 grant to host the NEA Big Read: CALS. An initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest, the NEA Big Read broadens our understanding of our world, our communities, and ourselves through the joy of sharing a good book.

What: Unique traveling exhibit traveling from coast to coast. Presents an interactive reading experience to learn about and try ebooks and audiobooks available through Central Arkansas Library System.

• Community members can explore the digital services available at public libraries in the Little Rock area.
• Readers can learn how to browse and borrow from Central Arkansas Library System’s digital catalog of ebooks and audiobooks.

Notable authors, including Pulitzer Prize and James Beard Award winners, television producers, artists, and one of the Little Rock Nine are among the diverse roster of presenters who will be providing sessions at the Central Arkansas Library System’s (CALS) sixteenth annual Arkansas Literary Festival, April 25-28, 2019. Events will be held at CALS Library Square and many other Little Rock venues.

The Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) will host a book signing featuring bestselling author Greg Iles on Thursday, March 7, noon at Ron Robinson Theater, Library Square, 100 Rock Street. Iles will sign copies of his new novel, Cemetery Road, and a limited number of backlist books with purchase of Cemetery Road.